One bad act begets another

Charley Reese

One bad act begets another

Published February 27, 2001

The recent bombing of Iraq is a good example of how one bad action begets

another bad action, which begets another.

The original bad action was the imposition of no-fly zones. This is a

violation of international law. The United Nations does not authorize it.

It was done unilaterally when another bad action, instigating rebellions

by Kurds and Shi'ite rebels, failed miserably.

But if you are going to order your pilots to fly over another country's

airspace, then you have an obligation to protect them. Hence, the bombing

of Iraqi anti-aircraft sites and the more-recent bombing of new radar

sites the Iraqis had installed south of Baghdad.

I'm sorry to see the new president follow in the same failed policy

initiated by his father and maintained by Bill Clinton. It puts us clearly

into the position of being a rogue state, to use Washington's favorite

phrase. It does not accomplish any useful purpose. It alienates the entire

Arab world, not to mention our allies.

Furthermore the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children (those are United Nations

figures, not Saddam Hussein's) because of the embargo is clearly a crime

against humanity under anybody's sensible definition. Far from causing the

overthrow of Hussein, it has only strengthened him.

Also, the embargo is coming apart as more and more nations, disgusted by

the stubbornness and malice of the United States and our puppet, Great

Britain, simply refuse to honor it. It has enraged the Arab citizens and

will make it increasingly more difficult for Arab politicians on our

payroll to stay in power.

Bush has the opportunity to forge a new and more sensible policy. I will

be keenly disappointed if he doesn't. Saddam Hussein is not, and never

was, a threat to the world. He's a dictator of a small country. Even if he

had two or three nukes, which no objective observers believe that he has,

he wouldn't use them, not even against Israel.

Israel, after all, has 200 nuclear warheads and wouldn't hesitate to turn

Iraq into one large piece of glass. Saddam knows that, and he's a

perfectly sane and shrewd individual, even if he flunks the League of

Women Voters' test of a leader.

It is one thing to say to a nation that if it attacks another country, the

United States will come to that country's aid. It is quite another to

interfere in the internal affairs of another nation. It is a violation of

the United Nations charter and a threat to the sovereignty of all nations,

including ours.

The Golden Rule applies to nations as well as to individuals. Our

government never should do to another nation that which we would not

tolerate being done to us. We have broken that rule repeatedly.

We have also employed a double standard, not only in the Middle East but

in other areas of the world. The United States should condemn what it

considers bad actions without regard for which country is doing it. If

it's wrong for one country to assassinate its political enemies, it is

wrong no matter which country does it. If refusing to sign the Nuclear

Non-Proliferation Treaty is considered wrong, it should be considered

wrong no matter which country refuses to sign it.

As the world well knows, however, the United States government follows the

sleazy philosophy of "It's not what you do, but who you are and whom you

do it to." I believe, among civilized people, that's called disgraceful.

Charley Reese can be reached at creese@orlandosentinel.com